Surface Engineering of Specialty Steels
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ASM Handbook, Volume 5: Surface Engineering Copyright © 1994 ASM International® C.M. Cotell, J.A. Sprague, and F.A. Smidt, Jr., editors, p 762-775 All rights reserved. DOI: 10.1361/asmhba0001306 www.asminternational.org Surface Engineering of Specialty Steels J.R. Davis, Davis & Associates SPECIALTY STEELS encompass a broad P/M materials for structural parts are iron-copper- amount of admixed graphite and the composition range of ferrous alloys noted for their special carbon, iron-nickel-carbon, and iron-carbon. of the sintering atmosphere. processing characteristics (powder metallurgy al- Parts made from these materials respond to heat loys), corrosion resistance (stainless steels), wear treatment with a defined hardenability band. Iron Deburring P/M Parts (Ref 4) resistance and toughness (tool steels), high parts that are low in carbon and high in density strength (maraging steels), or magnetic properties can also be case hardened. Although cleaning and deburring generally are (electrical steels). Each of these material considered different operations, they are often groupsmwith the exception of stainless steels, Designation of Ferrous P/M Materials accomplished simultaneously. Therefore, much which were discussed in the previous article in of the discussion on deburring is applicable to the this Sectionmwill be reviewed below. Additional Ferrous P/M materials are customarily desig- subsequent section of this article on cleaning. information on these materials can be found in nated by the specifications or standards to which The inherent porosity in P/M parts demands Volumes 1 and 2 of the ASM Handbook. they are made, such as those listed in Table 1. special considerations in all secondary opera- Comparable standards are published by ASTM, tions. This is also true for cleaning and deburring; SAE, and MPIF (Metal Powder Industries Fed- the relatively small size and complex shape of the Ferrous Powder Metallurgy Alloys eration). parts also require special procedures and/or pre- The MPIF designations for ferrous P/M mate- cautions that are not required for wrought or cast Powder metallurgy (P/M) in its simplest form rials, described in detail in Ref 3, include a prefix parts. The P/M parts shown in Fig. 1 are typical consists of compressing metal powders in a of one or more letters (the first of which is F to of small, intricate parts that frequently present shaped die to produce green compacts. These are indicate an iron-base material), four numerals, deburring problems. then sintered, or diffusion bonded, at elevated and a suffix. The second letter in the prefix iden- Deburring Methods. Due to the nature of the temperatures in a furnace with a protective at- tifies the principal alloying element (if one is P/M process, burrs typically form on the edges and mosphere. During sintering, the constituents usu- specified); the percentage of the element is indi- surfaces of P/qVI parts. In many simple shapes, de- ally do not melt, and the compacts become sub- cated by the first two digits. The third and fourth bun'mg is almost automaticmthat is, burrs are bro- stantially strengthened by the development of digits indicate the amount of carbon in the com- ken off during handling operations. If parts are bonds between individual particles. pacted and sintered part; the code designation 00 surface hardened or steam treated, subsequent de- For a specific metal powder and sintering con- indicates less than 0.3 %, 05 indicates 0.3 to 0.6%, burring may be unnecessary. However, for intricate dition, increased compact density results in im- and 0.8 indicates 0.6 to 0.9%. The suffix is used parts such as those shown in Fig. 1, separate debur- proved mechanical properties. The density of sin- to indicate the minimum 0.2% yield strength of ring operations generally are required. tered compacts may be increased by re-pressing. as-sintered parts and the minimum ultimate ten- When re-pressing is performed primarily to in- The use of liquid deburring methods is not sile strength of heat-treated materials in units of crease dimensional accuracy rather than density, usually suitable, especially if such liquids are 1000 psi (6.894 MPa). The letters HT designate it is termed sizing. When re-pressing is intended corrosive. Thus, acid pickling is not recom- heat treated. to change the contour of the surface in contact mended, because acid may be entrapped in the with the punches, it is termed coining. For exam- Commercially produced iron-base powders pores, resulting in severe corrosion. Tumbling in ple, a sintered blank could be coined so that the often contain controlled amounts of alloying ele- a wet medium is used frequently as a deburring surface is indented with small slots or letters and ments other than those specified by any of the method, but removal of the liquid from the pores numbers. The re-pressing may be followed by designations listed in Table 1. Manganese and requires extra drying time. Preferred methods of re-sintering, which relieves the stresses due to molybdenum may be added to improve strength deburring include: cold work and may further strengthen the com- and the response to heat treatment. Sulfur may be pact. More detailed information on consolidation added to enhance machinability. Additions of • Rotary tumbling (self or with abrasive) practices for ferrous P/M parts can be found in 0.45 to 0.80% P can improve the toughness of the • Vibratory Ref 1 and 2. part and reduce magnetic hysteresis losses. These • Abrasive blasting By pressing and sintering only, parts are pro- powders are usually identified by the trade name • Centrifugal or high-energy methods duced at 80 to 93% of theoretical density. By of the producer even though the amounts of alloy re-pressing, with or without sintering, the materi- additions are small enough that the designations These methods, which are used for deburring als may be further densified to 85 to 96% of listed in Table 1 could be applied to the powders. and sometimes for cleaning, are described in theoretical density. High-temperature sintering Commercially produced iron-base powders usu- the articles "Mechanical Cleaning Systems" will also produce parts at these high densities. ally contain very little carbon because carbon and "Mass Finishing Methods" in this Volume. The density of pressed parts is limited by the size lowers compressibility and the amount of carbon The discussions that follow are unique to P/M and shape of the compact. The most common in the finished part is readily controlled by the parts. Surface Engineering of Specialty Steels / 763 Table I Compositionsof ferrous P/M structural materials Designation(a) MPIF composition limits and ranges, % (b) Description MPIF ASTM SAE Ni Cu Fe Mo P/M iron F-0000 B 783 853, CI 1 0.3 max ... 97.7-100 P/M steel F-0005 B 783 853, CI 2 0.3-0.6 ... 97.4-99.7 P/M steel F-0008 B 783 853, CI 3 0.6-1.0 97.0-99.1 P/M copper iron FC43200 B 783 ... 0.3 max 1.5~319 93.8-98.5 P/M copper steel FC-0205 B 783 0.343.6 1.5-3.9 93.5-98.2 P/M copper steel FC-0208 B 783 8641Gr 1, CI 3 0.6-1.0 1.5-3.9 93.1-97.9 P/M copper steel FC-0505 B 783 0.3-0.6 4.0-6.0 91.4-95.7 P/M copper steel FC43508 B 783 864;Gr 2, Cl 3 0.6-1.0 4.0-6.0 91.0-95.4 P/M copper steel FC-0808 B 783 864, Gr 3, C13 0.6-1.0 6.0-11.0 86.0-93.4 P/M copper steel 864, Gr 4, CI 3 0.6-0.9 18.0-22.0 75.1 min P/M iron-copper FC-i~0 B783 862 0.3 max 9.5-10.5 87.2-90.5 P/M prealloyed steel FL-4205 B 783 ... 0.443.7 0.35-0.45 ... 95.9-98.7 05o-085 P/M prealloyed steel FL-4605 B 783 0.443.7 1.70-2.00 ... 94.5-97.5 0.4043.80 P/M iron-nickel FN43200 B 783 0.3 max 1.0-3.0 2.5 max 92.2-99.0 P/M nickel steel FN-0205 B 783 0.343.6 1.0-3.0 2.5 max 91.9-98.7 P/M nickel steel FN43208 B 783 0.6-0.9 1.0-3.0 2.5 max 91.6-98.4 P/M iron-nickel FN-0400 B 783 0.3 max 3.0-5.5 2.0 max 90.2-97.0 P/M nickel steel FN-0405 B 783 0.343.6 3.0-5.5 2.0 max 89.9-96.7 P/M nickel steel FN-0408 B 783 0.643.9 3.0-5.5 2.0 max 89.6-96.4 P/M iron-nickel FN-0700 ... 0.3 max 6.0-8.0 2.0 max 87.7-94.0 P/M nickel steel FN-0705 ... 0.3-0.6 6.0-8.0 2.0 max 87.4-93.7 P/M nickel steel FN-0708 0.6-0.9 6.0-8.0 2.0 max 87.1-93.4 P/M infiltrated steel FX-1000 B783 0-0.3 .. 8.0-14.9 82.8-92.0 P/M infiltrated steel FX-1005 B 783 0.343.6 .. 8.0-14.9 80.5-91.7 P/M infiltrated steel FX-1008 B 783 0.6-1.0 .